1996 Monaco Grand Prix
19 May |number = 587 |officialname = LIV Grand Prix Automobile de Monaco |circuit = Circuit de Monaco |location = Monte Carlo |circuittype = Temporary street circuit |lapdistance = 3.328 |laps = 75 |scheduledlaps = 78 |distance = 249.600 |pole = Michael Schumacher |polenation = GER |poleteam = |poletime = 1:20.356 |fastestlap = 1:25.205 |fastestlapdriver = Jean Alesi |fastestlapnation = FRA |fastestlapteam = |fastestlapnumber = 59 |winner = Olivier Panis |winnernation = FRA |winnerteam = |second = David Coulthard |secondnation = GBR |secondteam = |third = Johnny Herbert |thirdnation = GBR |thirdteam = }} The 1996 Monaco Grand Prix, formally the LIV Grand Prix Automobile de Monaco, was the sixth round of the FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at the Circuit de Monaco in Monte Carlo, Monaco, on the 19 May 1996.'Monaco GP, 1996', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 2014), https://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr587.html, (Accessed 13/08/2019) The race would see Olivier Panis claim a bizarre maiden victory for , in a race which only had three drivers cross the finish line when the chequered flag was thrown. Practice and qualifying were dry but rain was forecast for the race. In his lesser , Michael Schumacher took pole position ahead of ' Damon Hill, with the pairing of Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger third and fourth. Hill's championship rival Jacques Villeneuve qualified tenth. Some controversy erupted as Schumacher, on his slowing-down lap, caused Berger to spin on a hot lap coming out of the tunnel. In the warm-up, Olivier Panis was fastest, while Villeneuve, in a wet set-up, was 18th. Following the warm-up, it rained, and a fifteen-minute session was held so the teams and drivers could acclimatise. Andrea Montermini had damaged his car and was unable to start the race. With the race start under the wet conditions, it was a surprise to see Hill take the lead from Schumacher. At the back, Jos Verstappen, on slicks, crashed out, as did the drivers who collided into one another. 18 cars climbed the hill, before Schumacher crashed out before Portier and Rubens Barrichello dumped it at Rascasse. 16 remained. Soon Ukyo Katayama and Ricardo Rosset crashed out, and then Pedro Diniz's transmission failed; after five laps there were 13. Hill proceeded to run clear ahead of Alesi and Berger, with Eddie Irvine holding up the rest of the field in fourth. Berger retired after ten laps, leaving Irvine in third. Heinz-Harald Frentzen, behind the Ulsterman, dived in a little too rashly and damaged his front wing, ruining his race. Soon, it was time to change to slicks. Hill, after pitting, overtook Alesi for the lead around the outside, and following Alesi's stop, had a 30-second lead. Panis by now how had made his way to fourth and attacked Irvine; they collided at the Loews hairpin and Irvine had to be push-started by the marshals. Expecting a retirement, then a disqualification, he had undone his seatbelts and needed to have them done back up as he went back out again damage-free and infraction-free. Around this time, Martin Brundle made eleven runners as he spun out. Coming out of the tunnel on lap 40, Hill's engine emitted smoke and he was forced to retire, leaving Alesi a large lead over Panis, with David Coulthard third. Alesi led for 20 laps, before retiring with a suspension issue, leaving Panis in the lead, Coulthard second, and Johnny Herbert in third, and just nine drivers left out on track. One of these was Luca Badoer, six laps down in his . Obeying blue flags, he let Herbert through, but moved to the racing line when Villeneuve tried to pass, and the two made contact, and both retired, leaving just seven. Then, Irvine, continuing to entertain the fans, spun where his teammate had on lap one. In the process of putting himself in the right direction, the Finns Mika Salo and Mika Häkkinen came around the corner, and unsighted, ran into the Ferrari, and thus just four cars where left running. Panis held off Coulthard, and with light rain returning, held it on the track and saw the chequered flag for his first (and only) victory, from fourteenth on the grid. Coulthard crossed the line second, Herbert was third, and Frentzen pulled off into the pits a lap early with fourth place (and last) the only possibility. It was 's final win, fifteen years after their previous, and 's first win. Hill's championship lead remained 21 points over teammate Villeneuve, with Williams holding their 40-point lead over Ferrari. Background Jacques Villeneuve's late retirement at the allowed the victorious Damon Hill to extend his Championship lead to 21 points, and saw extend their lead over to 40 points. It was the 30th anniversary of being in F1. In lieu of the occasion, had brought a new engine for the race, and the updated McLaren car had a shorter wheelbase. As always in Monaco, the first day of practice was Thursday, with no running on Friday before the race resumes on the weekend. There was rain forecast on race day and the teams expected a wet race. An Imola Immolation Damon Hill had, once again, extended his Championship lead with his fourth victory of the season, leaving Italy with 43 points to his name. His advantage over Jacques Villeneuve had therefore blossomed back out to 21 points, more than two race wins, with the Canadian now only six points ahead of Michael Schumacher in third. Elsewhere, Jean Alesi and Eddie Irvine completed the top five, with thirteen drivers on the board. In the Constructors Championship it was, as ever, a strong afternoon's work for , who left Imola with 65 points to their credit. With on 25 points in second that meant that Williams-Renault had a 40 point lead after just five races, a daunting advantage that made all of their rivals write-off hopes of claiming the crown. Elsewhere, defending Champions were third, seven off of Ferrari, while had yet to break into double figures in fourth. Entry list The full entry list for the is outlined below: Practice overview Thursday Saturday Practice times Qualifying Qualifying report Although Martin Brundle was fastest throughout practice, he was described as being "mystified" as to why he could only manage sixteenth on the grid. Michael Schumacher achieved the first pole position for at Monte-Carlo since Jody Scheckter in 1979. Qualifying results The full qualifying results for the are outlined below: *T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car to set their best time in that session. *'Bold' indicates a driver's best/qualifying time. ** Montermini was unable to start the race due to an accident during the warm-up. Grid * * Did not start. Warm-Up Warm-up Jean Alesi had a puncture during the session. Acclimatisation session Warm-up results Race Pre-Race Schumacher's Challenge Michael Schumacher's pole position for had seen high anticipation from the Tifosi whom flocked in their masses to attend Schumacher's inaugral race at Monaco for the scarlet squad. Ferrari had failed to see one of their drivers' take the victory at the principality since Gilles Villeneuve's victory in 1981. Since the death of Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher had become the new 'Master of Monaco' and in absence of Senna had taken the victory laurels in the past two Monte-Carlo events in 1994 and 1995. Pole position as ever is a critical element to success at Monte-Carlo, the tight and twisty track providing few overtaking opportunities. Schumacher had controlled the pace lights to finish from pole in 1994, whilst the following year he had hounded the tail of pole sitter Damon Hill throughout the race before taking the lead due to a superior race strategy from his then team. Schumacher on pole position was the clear favourite, however he would be in unfamiliar territory for Ferrari, the team had not looked in contention for a race win since the elder Villeneuve's victory in 1981. Since then Gerhard Berger, now at Benetton had been their most successful driver at Monaco, having achieved a second place for the team in 1988 as well as a pair of third place finishes, the previous two years in 1994 and 1995. Report Following his accident in the acclimatisation session, Andrea Montermini's car was damaged beyond the fixing abilities of his team and thus he did not take the start. With the track wet, at the start, Hill overtook Schumacher lead into Ste. Devote. Jos Verstappen, on slicks, attacked Mika Häkkinen hard into the first corner and crashed. The two drivers collided and put each other out of the race, so 18 cars climbed the hill. Surprisingly, Schumacher crashed going into Portier, allowing Hill an opportunity to build a clear lead. Then, Rubens Barrichello had an accident, so just 16 drivers finished the first lap. The retirements continued quickly; Ukyo Katayama and Ricardo Rosset both crashed out while Pedro Diniz's transmission failed within the first five laps, leaving just thirteen cars. Eddie Irvine was struggling in the sister Ferrari, holding fourth place, Heinz-Harald Frentzen pushing hard. David Coulthard, in a spare helmet lent by Schumacher, closed in. Further ahead, Hill, Alesi and Berger got away from Irvine while Panis made the race's first overtake of Martin Brundle for 11th. On lap nine, Berger slowed with gearbox troubles and eventually retired, leaving Irvine in third and just twelve drivers on track. Frentzen attempted a dive but damaged his front wing and was forced to pit, with putting on some new slicks against Frentzen's wishes. As the race ventured past twenty laps, the track began to dry and the lap times began to tumble. As Hill pitted on lap 28, Panis, seemingly the only driver able to overtake, had moved into seventh and Luca Badoer in his atomic yellow was one and a half laps down. Frentzen, having made a second pit stop for slicks on lap 26, was a whole second faster than Hill before the Briton pitted. Alesi delayed his stop and managed to have Hill overtake him around the outside on the run-up to Casino Square; following the Frenchman's pit stop, Hill had a 30-second lead. Panis had managed to move up to fourth place as Brundle spun out, leaving just 11 cars (half the original field). Panis was charging hard, and quickly closed on Irvine in third, and overtook him at the hairpin, the pair banging wheels, damaging the steering but not enough to stop the car. Irvine stopped the car had even unbuckled his seatbelts when he got the car restarted; he pitted to get them done back up again and emerged ahead of Panis, but a lap down. Despite the damage, Panis set the fastest lap. On lap 40, the race threw up yet another surprise, as Hill's engine gave way coming out the tunnel, giving Alesi a comfortable but ever-shortening lead over Panis, with Coulthard moving up to third a few seconds down on Panis after the Frenchman spun, but when Coulthard overshot the chicane Panis gained back a few seconds. By now it was clear the race was going to go to two hours rather than 78 laps, and Alesi made a splash-and-dash pit stop on lap 54 that halved his lead over Panis from just under half a minute to a quarter. The pair were trading fastest laps until Alesi made an unscheduled stop on lap 60. A rear spring had broken in the suspension and Alesi was out, leaving Panis (who started 14th) in the lead, Coulthard in second, and Johnny Herbert in third from 13th on the grid. The race kept on giving entertainment despite the dwindling participants. Badoer, six laps down, was being closed on by Herbert and Villeneuve. Obeying blue flags, Badoer let Herbert through but didn't realise Villeneuve was following close behind; as a result Badoer pinned Villeneuve against the barrier and sent himself airborne; both had to retire and nine became seven. Out at the front, Coulthard was closing in on Panis as the rain started once again. As a result, there were yet more accidents to be had as Irvine capped an eventful afternoon by spinning where teammate Schumacher had on the first lap. Amazingly, with just six other drivers on track, in the process of spinning himself in the right direction he collected one third of the possible drivers, Mika Salo and Häkkinen; thus sending all three out and leaving just four drivers left. As the two-hour mark was passed midway through lap 75, Panis still lead Coulthard by a few seconds, eventually taking a stunning win by just under five seconds over the Scotsman, and Herbert crawled in 37 seconds down. Salo was classified fifth, Häkkinen sixth and Irvine outside the points in seventh; no-one else was classified. Frentzen, who could have had a shot at victory were it not for his accident with Irvine, pitted in on lap 75 since he was the last remaining driver on track in fourth and his teammate, Herbert, had already crossed the line in third. Given that only four drivers were running at the end, that the two Sauber drivers had reached the finish line was an impressive achievement. Post-race It was Olivier Panis' first win, 's first win since the 1981 Canadian Grand Prix, and 's first win. It was also to be Panis' only win and Ligier's final win. The race set a record for the fewest drivers still running at the end of the race, with just four, of which one didn't cross the finish line. Due to the fact that none of Damon Hill, Jacques Villeneuve, Michael Schumacher or Jean Alesi finished the race, the top of the Drivers' Championship remained the same, except for Panis, who tied Alesi on 11. Likewise, none of , or scored any points either; 's seven (six from David Coulthard and one from Mika Häkkinen) held fourth ahead of Ligier. For his accident with Villeneuve, Luca Badoer received a two-race suspended ban, which he would not incur. Further down the grid, Giancarlo Minardi was furious with his drivers, stating that "in twelve years of Formula One, I've never seen anything like this". He was unable to apportion blame onto Giancarlo Fisichella or Pedro Lamy, with their collision being a racing incident. Results The full results for the are outlined below: *T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car. ** Salo, Häkkinen and Irvine was still classified despite retiring as they had completed 90% of the race distance. *† Montermini was unable to start the race due to an accident in the warm-up. Fastest laps Laps in the leads Stints Totals Milestones * Olivier Panis' only win. * 's first win for fifteen years. * Ligier's final win. * 's first win. * Panis was the first driver other than Michael Schumacher, Alain Prost or Ayrton Senna to win the Monaco Grand Prix since Keke Rosberg won the race in 1983. * Johnny Herbert's fifth podium. * Jean Alesi's fourth and final fastest lap. * Ligier's 50th podium. * ' 50th Grand Prix as an engine supplier. Standings There were no changes atop the Championship as a result of the Monaco Grand Prix, with none of the title protagonists managing to score. Damon Hill hence retained his 21 point lead over Jacques Villeneuve, while Michael Schumacher remained six behind the Canadian in third. Instead, the big winner, literally, was Olivier Panis, who shot into fourth after his maiden victory. It was a similar story in the Constructors Championship, with none of the lead trio managing to get a car to the finish. As a result, held their 40 point lead over , with seven off the Scuderia in third. had, however, inched closer to Benetton in fourth, while were up to fifth after their shock win. Only point scoring drivers and constructors are shown. References Images and Videos: * References: *F1 Rejects user submitted article on the race Category:Grand Prix articles Category:Grand Prix articles Category:Monaco Grand Prix Category:1996 Grands Prix